Parnell Creek (Wilkins Peak) (Eocene of the United States)

Where: Sweetwater County, Wyoming (41.7° N, 109.0° W: paleocoordinates 45.6° N, 95.1° W)

• coordinate based on political unit

When: Wilkins Peak Member (Green River Formation), Bridgerian (50.3 - 46.2 Ma)

Environment/lithology: terrestrial

Primary reference: L. Grande. 1984. Paleontology of the Green River Formation, with a review of the fish fauna. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Wyoming 63:1-333 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Alroy]more details

PaleoDB collection 16393: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 30.04.1994

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• sec 24 T 25N R 102 W
the "Tipton Tongue" collection of McGrew and Roehler 1960 reported by Grande is the same as the "Parnell Creek locality" of Roehler 1991a; however, "Hyracotherium sp." from this "locality" is from a lower level than the specimens from the Farson Sandstone Mbr. of Roehler, which seems to equal the "Wilkins Peak" collection; I assume that the latter is really from the Farson Sandstone
Mauger 1977 gives two "Class 1" reliability K-Ar dates for Tuff 3 of this member at separate localities; although they are mutually compatible, the member is quite thick (Roehler 1992) and the faunal locality is quite distant from either of the dated localities
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Ischyromyidae
Thisbemys sp. Wood 1959 rodent
 Primates - Microsyopidae
Uintasorex parvulus Matthew 1909 primate
Microsyops elegans Marsh 1871 primate
 Primates - Notharctidae
Notharctus sp. Leidy 1870 primate
 Primates - Omomyidae
Washakius insignis Leidy 1873 tarsier
 Theriamorpha -
Talpavus nitidus Marsh 1872 placental
Vulpavus profectus Matthew 1909 placental
 Condylarthra - Hyopsodontidae
Hyopsodus minusculus Leidy 1873 condylarth
 Theriamorpha - Herpetotheriidae
"Copedelphys innominata" = Herpetotherium innominatum Simpson 1928 marsupial
Herpetotherium knighti McGrew et al. 1959 marsupial